Do you think sales professionals should be better compensated?

Sales professionals take the most risk in their career compared to other divisions of a company (finance, HR, etc.). Do you think sales professionals should push harder for "risk compensation" since we are always tied to a number, the most scrutinized in the org, and the area you generally have the most churn? I'd love to hear ideas on compensating reps appropriately since I don't think the risk reward is always equal for sales pros. I think a lot of times risk outweighs the potential reward of the position.

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19
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
9
Sales Rep
I think the floor is way too low for majority of the sales roles. Low Base with a great OTE but very few reps make a decent amount and pretty much live off the base at those companies.
jefe
Arsonist
5
๐Ÿ
Far too many companies have too low a base.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
4
Bravado's Resident Asshole
I think it may depend on what sales position you are holding. I'm curious to hear what others have to say as well.
TennisandSales
Politicker
4
Head Of Sales
no i dont think so.

the upside to our role (in the right company) is soooooo much higher than anyone else.

many companies offer low base pay and that sucks. try not to work for those companies haha.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Honestly, I think reps are compensated well IF they are diligent about landing a role with a base that will support them. Starting out, you should expect to work hard to work up, but you shouldn't be taken advantage of by agreeing to a badly balanced base + commission.

Other than that, it's only risky if you're living above your means and not being prudent with your earnings, or you have a bad comp plan. Your deals are visible, so it's easy to see who's making the number and who isn't, but is that really more risk than engineers who have deadlines and performance standards and QC, etc.? The option for a rep with a bad plan is to work for change internally or find another role.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
The main problem is for reps that are starting out. You are told everyone is hitting quota, so you assume you will be making the big bucks in no-time.

Plus since they are early in the career, they dont know what is a good balance with base/ote or % reps hitting quota
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Well, those are the hard truths we are laying down right here!
FinanceEngineer
Politicker
2
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
Look, we make as much as we sell. We also keep our contacts through positions so we just gain value over time.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
๐ŸฆŠ
I don't care wtf the earning potential may be - if you offer an extremely low base I'm moving on.
BourbonKing
Valued Contributor
2
VP of Sales
You may be looking at the wrong sales roles or the wrong companies. My experience is that the reward (upside) more than compensates for the risk. Sales definitely takes on more risk than other departments, but top sales reps are some of the highest paid people in the company (outside of the C-suite).
SDM
Politicker
1
Sales development manager
I've seen decent fixed and great OTE but few reps make a great OTE. I was making 2.5x of my base in my last job and my seniors were making 4x
SaaSguy
Tycoon
1
Account Executive
Companies wont pay salespeople more if there is too low barriers to entry and they can fill seats with whatever shitty salary they offer.
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Its a lot of "it depends". Amount of experience, how fast till they are productive, sales cycle length, etc.
ChickenDinner
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I agree with a lot of these posts. The 50/50 split is pretty tough for saas sales reps. If you have a bad you don't make enough to feed your family and if you have a great year you're rich, what a twist! I think a 60/40 split would do wonders to create just a touch more stability
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
I also think having a good base is motivating. I am curious to know what you mean or yourself expect from the last statement?
BrianTracysLoveChild
Fire Starter
0
Account Manager
Capped earnings are a problem. The idea behind MBO and OTE is fine but I agree with @Kosta_Konfucius- the floor is way too low at least in the B2B space. It also depends on how long you have been in the sales game and your track record - in the begining, maybe you needed to take a mediocre sales comp in order to work for a juicy brand/org. As you get established and you have savings from earnings to fall back on, you can negotiate a stronger comp package. 80/20 rule applies in sales with 20% making 80% of the money - so it makes sense there is lots of churn and a lot of folks making mediocre coin.
pirate
Big Shot
0
๐Ÿฆœโ˜ ๏ธ Account Executive
I think base should be in accordance with the housing market and your skills
Mendizo
Opinionated
0
Sr. Director
Really depends on what the plan is... hard to paint all 'Sales Professionals' with a single brush given the huge variability in plans.

For example, my last team of sellers generally were at $300k OTE, 50/50 base/variable, with a great runway to achieve quota. Big accelerators, and uncapped upside. That to me is a great plan, so I see no need to change it.

I think this dovetails with what others have written, which is you've got to look at the specific details of the plan and judge each on its own merit. Some plans are great, some plans are not great. With a free market, companies that do not provide enough reward for the risk ultimately will not have a healthy sales team (especially when we are all diligent about reporting and bringing visibility into those companies on platforms like this).
ComplicatedBrain
Member
0
President
I own an independent rep agency and all my guys are 100% commission, and they get a 70/30 split. The way I look at it is, they hustle they make more, and when they make more my 30% gets bigger and bigger. This model works for my agency, but weโ€™re also moving commodities and the business becomes an annuity and you keep building on it every month. I believe in paying people well, they donโ€™t work for me for some altruistic means, cash is king.
WhoDey
Opinionated
0
VP of Sales
If your sales reps aren't better compensated than other divisions (finance, HR, etc.), you are at the wrong company. I've never worked for a company where sales reps didn't have much greater earnings potential than people in nonrevenue generating roles. Greater risk absolutely deserves greater reward.
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